Live and Let Live
by wrakazama
Summary: Life has gotten even worse for Leah, and she decides to leave Washington behind. What happens when she imprints and moves to England, and how does the tribe react?
1. Chapter 1 Escape

**_Note: This story takes place a couple of years after Breaking Dawn and all the events which happened there. Life has only gotten worse for Leah, and this is the result. Hope you like it! XD_**

**_Other note: I don't own anything, so all creds go to Stephenie Meyer, and to the artists whose songs I use during the chapters. _**

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**Leah**

**- Escape**

"_6.30 winter morn_

_Snow still falling, silent dawn_

_A rose by any other name, _

_Eva leaves her Swan-brook home."_

_-Eva, Nightwish_

The bag was heavy on her back, packed with forgotten lies and memories. She walked calmly, as though she knew where she was going, so as not to arouse suspicion. That was the way you did it: blend in with the environment, the environment blends in with you, and no one'll notice you're gone. At least, that was what Leah hoped.

What city was she in now? Good God, still in Washington-was there no faster way to go? Of course, she could have disappeared from the city as a wolf, but she was leaving that Leah behind. Forever. Wasn't much else you could do, really. Life gets too hard for you to deal with, you die or you escape. Life's _ABC, _the stuff every idiot knows.

And life had gotten too hard to deal with. She'd thought it couldn't get any worse- Sam imprinting on Emily, being a werewolf, Bella, Renesmée, and all the other crap that went with it. But it could get worse, and fate had decided to pull out its little mean card and play it for her. Seemed like she'd just rolled the wrong dice in life. All of them. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Her world had started falling apart, not just on the outside, but right in the middle, right where the core of her life was, the seams had been torn and sent it all gushing out. And the amazing part was, it had all happened _in one day. _Put your hands together, Ladies and Gents, whoever decided _my _fate has really outdone himself today, don't that deserve an award? Let's take a glance through that play, shall we?

Scene 1: (_Leah appears in doorway, for a change, wearing a smile. Other residents in the room: Edward Cullen.)_

_(Leah stops up, confused)_

Leah: What the hell are you doing in my room?

_(Pause.)_

Edward: _(Quiet, calm)_ Leah, I, uh, have something to tell you-

_(Hesitant)_

Leah: _(impatient)_ Yeah?

Edward: I'm truly sorry, Leah, truly sorry, sorry, sorry, but your mother… she passed away today.

_(Dramatic sigh)_

Leah: What?!

Edward: Car crash-

And so on and so on, you get the general gist of things. Basically, Leah almost kills Edward and then spends the day crying and crying and-here's a surprise, crying, when Jacob and Nessie just _have _to pop by and tell her their marital plans, goddammit, and ooh, let's put the cherry on the cake-guess who comes next? Sam and Emily, _with their new baby. _And, can you believe it, the playwright's really outdone himself this time. Seth has imprinted!

Well, kudos and a large Brava to you, Mr. Fate. I take off my hat in honour. You've ruined my life.

Leah sighed. She was going to have to stop thinking about it, or she'd go mad. If she wasn't already. No, what she _did _need to think about now were her plans for the future.

She had to get away, far, _far _away. Out of the States? Nah, not today. Maybe to… but wait, nowhere in the States was far enough. So somewhere else then - Europe? England. At least they spoke English there. She had taken _heaps_ of money, so, what were her plans? Take a bus to the airport, catch the nearest plane to London, rent a hotel room… She have to get a job, 'course, but it shouldn't be too hard to find, a waitress or something of the like. Sounded like an okay plan. A bit blurry around the edges, but hey, it'd be fine!

Or, of course, everything would go wrong and she would die. Not much left to lose there, but apparently, you actually _did _lose a big part of your life if you died. Hm…

No. She'd be fine. She _would be fine. _Fine-o-rama, in fact. Fine-o-rama with a cherry on top. Can't get finer than _that, _bet you a trillion bucks. Not that she had _that _much, of course. But then, who did?

Leah realized she'd stopped in her tracks and people were looking at her all funny-good _God, _she hadn't talked out _loud, _had she? Leah sighed and headed for the bus stop.

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**_Yeah, I know the first chapter is short. Oh well, the future one's will be longer. I hope. XD _**


	2. Chapter 2 Imprinting

**Note: Thanks for the reviews!**

**All creds go to Stephenie Meyer. **

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**2- Imprinting**

**_"Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial  
For what it's worth it was worth all the while_**

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.  
I hope you had the time of your life. "

**_-Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), Greenday  
_**

Leah sat in the plane, impatiently drumming her hands on the book she'd brought along. Not that she liked reading, but it usually stopped her from thinking a lot, which she _really _needed at the moment, so she'd taken two or three books with her. She opened and closed the book a couple of times, trying to concentrate on the words running over the pages, but somehow, she couldn't read them. It took her a while to realise that she was holding the book upside down, and she hastily turned her book around, trying to continue reading. She would have been halfway through the book by now if the plane would just be _in the air, _which it should have been, oh, let me see, just about _20 minutes ago. _

Except that the plane wouldn't start, goddamnit. Something didn't want to work. Maybe she'd brought along a wave of bad luck and they would all crash and die. She shook herself, sighing. What had she promised herself? That she would fine. Finefinefinefinefine, and she _would _keep that promise. Anyway, it was only 20 minutes- but she was still in Washington, and what if they found her? Well, she was probably worrying about nothing at all again, they probably hadn't even noticed she was gone. They must be having the _time of their lives _right now, partying and kissing their goddam loved ones. Their imprints. She briefly imagined Jacob kissing Renesmee, holding her tight in his warm arms, but pushed the thought away at the pain which was collecting itself in her belly. Well, who cared if they were having a good time? She'd left the Quilete Tribe and their leech friends behind, not to mention the confused little Renesmee, who couldn't even decide what she was, and good riddance to you too. Hope you have the time of your life. Time would heal all wounds, at least that was what people said.

The plane finally gave a _whoosh _and a _brmm _and started lifting itself into the skies. Leah blew little raspberries out of the window as she saw Washington disappear beneath her- good bye and good riddance! The guy sitting next to her was looking at her all funny, like she'd lost all her marbles. Well, who the hell gave a damn, anyway? It wasn't like she ever was gonna see _him _again, that stuck up little son of a bi- No, no, keep it calm, keep it cool, no calling people names today. She grinned a little too herself, finishing her sentence. Stuck up little son of a _biscuit._

She smiled, opened up her book and started reading. Leave behind the old, start with the new. She was feeling _good. _

_**_

"Would you like anything to drink?" A steward was looking at her, motioning towards his cart of drinks. She nodded and managed to mumble for a cola, but her eyes never left him. Didn't leave that beautiful face, not for a second. She wanted to jump into his arms, hold him, to stay like that, forever and ever and ever. With him. He belonged to her, anyway. They belonged _together, _like two pieces of a puzzle.

He handed her the coke, shook his head when she offered him money, sent her a brilliant smile, and kept walking. So he was charming and kind, too. Good god, she hadn't- But she had. She'd imprinted. Just when she'd thought she was leaving it all behind, just when she was starting to feel _good. _Well, she was _not_ going to run to him. She was most certainly _not _going to throw everything she knew and away and race up to him, to hold his strong arms and whisper that she loved him. She clutched the armrests tightly, because she was most certainly _not _about to give up everything and chase him. With a force she found quite amazing, she wrenched her face towards the window. Ah, look at that pretty sky, would you? Darn right perfect. Look at the sky, and forget all about him. He was an idiot, by the way. What the hell was a _guy _doing as a _steward, _anyway?

But he _had _been so kind… _Shut up, shut up, shut up! _And his smile, like a million sparkling diamonds- oh, damn that steward.

**

The plane had finally arrived, thank the Lord. The trip had been absolute _hell. _The damned steward had kept getting in the way- he'd introduced himself very nicely, told her he was called John, and asked her what her name was. She'd told him she was called Louise.

Every second of the journey, every bone, every muscle, no, every goddamn _cell _in her body had been crying, straining for him, and it had taken her full concentration, 24/7, to stop herself from flinging herself into his muscular strong arms, lean against that muscular, hard chest, and taste those wonderful lips. Every single _inch _of her mind had to be occupied by something, _anything, _other than him. And of course she hadn't slept. She'd tried too, in the beginning, but her dreams had been of him and she'd woken up screaming. She didn't try after that.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

Oh yes you can. You can kiss me and hold me and get down on one knee and ask me to marry you, and believe me, I will, I will, I will, I will.

"No, I'm fine."

She grabbed her bag, slung it around her shoulder, didn't return his bright, heart stopping smile, and walked out of the plane. Not, of course, that it was as easy as it sounds. Every step, every inch, every _breath _she took away from him felt like hell, and everything in her was screaming from him. She was close, so close to breaking down and turning to him, especially when he looked at her so helpfully, but she would not give in. She would _not_ give in_. _And so, she managed to get out of the plane, walk to the baggage claim, and step outside into the dusty English air, before running and running and running, with no idea where she was going, because tears were blinding her, but she kept running, ignoring the shouts and the car honks, ignoring this thing of hers which felt like a million shards of ice but must be her heart, ignoring the fire which was burning her, burning her, burning her, until she was so far away she couldn't feel his presence anymore, and she sank onto a bench and cried herself to sleep.

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**No offence meant to any male stewards out there, by the way. XD. And also, I know the chapter's short again, and I'm sorry, but they should get longer further on. I think. XD. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3 Guilt

**_Thanks for all the reviews!_**

**_Yeah, the layout for my second chapter got messed up, sorry about that! _**

**_All creds still go to Stephenie Meyer X3_**

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**Jacob**

**- Guilt**

" _Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life"_

_-How to Save a Life, The Fray_

Leah was gone. Not only was she gone, she had been gone for exactly 50 hours and 19 minutes. Jacob was the only one who knew it so exactly, because he'd been timing from the moment she said good-bye to him. But he wouldn't tell them that, because they would demand to know why he hadn't stopped her. When, really, if they just opened their eyes, it would be so clear to see: if he'd managed to make Leah stay her, which would have been next to impossible, she would have chosen the other path. There was absolutely _no _doubt that, if Leah had stayed here, she would have died. Literally.

The two packs were collected in Jacob's house, piled onto couches and chairs and the floor, stuffing themselves. Which, seeing Jacob wasn't eating at the moment, looked absolutely dis-_gusting, _and he did his best to avoid looking at them, except that, of course, they were _everywhere _and he couldn't even see an inch of the floor, so he closed his eyes and waited for the munching sounds to stop.

Once all sounds of eating had stopped, he opened his eyes and looked at them.

"So," Seth started casually, wrapping his arm around Sabrina, "Why'd you bring us all?"

They didn't know. She had been gone for 3 frigging _days, _and they hadn't even noticed.

Jacob took slow breaths to calm down before he started.

"Look around you, guys. Have any of you noticed something?"

They looked around, wearing the masks of the confused, complete idiots they were. Seth was the first to realize.

"Leah's not here."

Jacob's reply was a mocking smile.

"Well, look at that, genius. She's actually not _here. _And 100 points to that contestant, there you go, Ladies and Gents!"

They kept looking at him with wide eyes, like they were rabbits caught in a car light. Wow. He was surrounded by absolute _idiots. _

"Now, do we have another Einstein amongst us, who might have noticed something else?"

And, would you believe it, they looked around the room _again. _Good Lord. Had they all been brainwashed?

He cracked, feeling the fire all over him, the fire of rage as hot as the sun, and let it all out.

"Oh, well, are we all having a nice time? Sam, Emily, how's your baby? And, oh, let's see, Seth, how you and Sabrina doing? Well, you know what? I don't goddamn _care!_ Because, guess what? Leah is _gone!_ She has been gone for 3 _freaking days, _and none of you even _noticed! _Now what, I ask you, is wrong with that? Oh yeah, hm, looks like I might have to _really _think about that one-" He was spitting with fury, drenching them all in his sarcastic wrath, and if Nessie hadn't come up to him and put her little, cold hand on his shoulder, he would have phased, right there and then, not caring about anything.

Seth was looking at him like he was the devil, come to punish him for all his evil deeds.

"Oh God," he groaned, "Leah's gone and it's all my goddamn fault." He buried his head in his hands and everyone started comforting him, telling him how of _course _it wasn't his fault, why would he even think such a thing, except they were all lying, because it _was _Seth's fault, it was all of their fault, and they were _idiots, _damn them. Jacob included.

Sam looked at Jacob, cocking his head a little.

"Jacob, do you possibly know… well, do you know _why _Leah left?"

All of their heads whipped up, and they stared at him intensely, till it felt like they were glaring daggers into his head. He pushed Nessie away from him, just in case he phased- he didn't want to hurt her the way Sam had hurt Emily. So he took a deep, deep breath before he started talking, telling himself again and again that he would _not _get extremely angry, and he would most certainly, under _no circumstances whatsoever_, phase.

"Well, we all know that the Cullens were the first ones to see the car crash in which Sue died, right? Now, I have no idea why, but for some reason, they decided that _Edward, _who has got to be the person who Leah hates most in this world, was the one to tell her. Now that, already, put her in a _preeeeetty _crappy mood, don't ya think? What happens next during the day? Well, Sam and Emily bring their new baby, Nessie and I tell her our marital plans, and Seth brings along Sabrina. Something clicking into your heads, my fellow Einstein's?"

He could practically see the wheels in their heads turning as they tried to figure _this one _out, and had absolutely no problem in seeing the horror screaming over their faces as they realised.

"We have to find her!"

"Where could she be?"

"Canada, or is that too close?"

"She's had three days…"

Jacob ignored the voices, focusing on his own problems. Maybe, just maybe, he could have made a difference. No, not just _maybe. _Probably. He still remembered it all, standing in the forests, Leah stepping out of the trees, looking beautiful in the night light

"Hey." He'd told her, and she'd returned it with a little _hi, _giving him a little, beautiful smile. He remembered how much force it had taken for him not to grab her and kiss that amazing smile, that beautiful face.

He remembered the little sigh she'd given, and how it set off butterflies in his stomach.

"Jake, I've, I've got something to tell you." She'd whispered, and never in her life had she sounded so uncertain, and he wanted to hold her and heal her and tell her it would be all right, but he'd just nodded and asked what it was.

"I've- _God, _I don't know how to put it." She gave a little, sad laugh, and smiled at him again, uncertain. "Look, Jake, I've, I've-" A deep sigh before she put it out there. "I think I've fallen in love with you." The last thing she'd said had been so quiet, nothing but a whisper, and he hadn't been able to believe it was true, and something in his mind registered how hard it must be for her to admit it to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

And then he'd pulled her close to him, and their lips had met, and it was like a thousand dreams had come true. But it had been ruined, by a beautiful little voice, ringing out like a tinkling of bells.

"Jacob?" Nessie. Oh god, what about Nessie?

Leah had looked at him, hoped and fear shining in her eyes, and he'd kissed her a final time before whispering how sorry he was, they both knew no one could fight against imprinting, and she'd walked away in the middle of his sentence, head held high and back held straight, and he'd let her pretend he couldn't see her tears.

"Jacob?"

"Jacob!"

"JACOB!"

He blinked a couple of times, refocusing on the world around him.

"Yeah?"

"Where the hell are you, man, in lalaland?" Paul demanded, glaring at him.

Jacob just shrugged, looking away.

"So, we figured we should go check out Alaska, you think that's where she might be?" Seth was looking at him hopefully.

Jacob really doubted it. She had brains, that girl. She was probably half way across the world by now. And that sick feeling of guilt took over again, because Leah would have given up her imprint for her true love, as much as it would hurt.

"Uh…Jake?"

He snapped out of it. There was _no way _she was in Alaska, he was absolutely certain of it. But she'd left for a reason, and them popping up on her front door right now would certainly _not _make her day. So he just nodded and gave Seth a little reassuring pat on the back.

"Yeah, let's go check out Alaska."

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**_Hope y'all liked it! Please review, and tell me if you see any typos or anything :D _**


	4. Chapter 4 Fine o Rama

**Thanks for all of the reviews! Also, sorry it took so long for me to write the next chapter, I was busy. XD**

**Of course, I still don't own anything, because I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing this fanfiction then, would I? XD**

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**Leah**

**- Fine-o-rama**

**"_Call your name everyday, when I feel so helpless. _**

**_I've fallen down, but I'll rise above this, rise above this now. _**

**_I'll mend myself before it gets me."_**

**_-Rise above this, Seether_**

Waking up was definitely _not _a nice experience. Every bone in her body was aching, whatever she was lying on was terribly uncomfortable, and she couldn't remember anything- where she was, how she'd gotten here, and why couldn't she see anything?

It took her a couple of moments to realise that her eyes were closed and she blinked a couple of times, opening them. A blurry blue face was looking straight down at her.

"You 'kay, miss?"

She closed her eyes and opened them again, and this time everything was in place. She was lying on a bench somewhere in England because she'd met her damned imprint yesterday, and the face looking down at her was in fact _not _blue, it was a regular face wearing a blue cap. Which, incidentally, was a police cap.

"Miss?"

She nodded, sitting up. Everything was groggy, and she had to hold her hand to her head to steady herself a bit.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm uh, I'm fine." Was that soft, croaky voice truly hers? Good God. If Jacob had seen this, he'd be rolling on the floor with laughter.

The cop's face brightened as he sent her a huge smile.

"Well, look's like you've been through your own little marathon, innit?" He didn't say the _t's _when he talked, she noticed. Oh yeah, she was in England.

"Huh?"

Why wouldn't everything just _stop _turning?

The cop held up a newspaper, and it took her a couple of seconds to realize why he was holding it- the person on the front cover was _her, _running like crazy. The newspaper title was _New World record set on the streets?_

Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. This could not be. This could _not _be. She had run as fast as her human legs would take her yesterday- which was about ten times faster than any human record, if not more. If they had actually been _timing _her… Then everything would crash, fall to pieces. Where would she end up? Dead, or spending her life in prison. Nothing ever kept its damned promise. What had happened to her little Fine-o-rama, I ask you? Gone down the drain, along with all her other hopes and dreams.

The cop was looking at her all funny, so she decided to play stupid. Thank god she'd won that award in Acting Class.

"Wha-what happened? Why am I- What, god, I'm so confused!" She made sure her voice was soft, and put her hand to her head, rolling her eyes a little for added effects.

The cop was young, about 25 or so, and his sympathy made him sit next to her, giving her a concerned looking.

"Well, looks like you been through some'in' bad in your life, innit righ'?"

She nodded and gave a sad little sigh before looking down and starting to play with her hands.

"They, um, they, they all _left _me behind, like I was nothing better than a-" sniff, "nothing better than a dog or something. And, and, and-"

She broke down in fake tears, leaning against his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her, and the human contact felt good and warm. She hadn't had it in so long.

"It's okay, honey, it's okay, I'll make sure of tha', innit righ' I will, innit righ'? Yeah, I'll make sure of tha', don't worry, honey."

All right man, you've have just been officially _punk'd. _How stupid was this idiot? But she let him cradle her, on and on, to keep up the act, even let him give her little kisses on the cheek, though he _did _get punched when he tried to kiss her full smack bang on the lips.

He looked at her, surprised.

"S-sorry, miss, I must have slipped."

Yeah, and I'm Santa Clause.

"Anway, uh-" he scratched his head. Now, what, I ask you, was wrong with this guy? _Kissing _her? Good God, crazy little cop.

"No one got hurt during your little runnin' thing, so I s'pose that's all good, but you almost caused some accidents, so we're uh… gonna have to charge you of a bi' of money, you know?" Wow. Luck really seemed to be following her. She had been found by an awkward, young cop, who had tried to kiss her. Hallelujah.

"How much?"

"Um… righ' about 100 pounds, miss."

100 pounds? 100 _pounds? _Was he friggin' _insane? _

"And also, we would like to, um… move you. Not _move _you, of course, but uh… do you know what hotel you were meant to go to?"

She nodded numbly, bending over the bench to look for her bags. They weren't there.

"Miss, they're righ' here. We 'ad to make sure no one stole 'em, you know?"

She nodded again, grabbing her handbag and searching through it, finally picking up a crumpled hotel brochure. She handed it to him.

"Ah... That's all the way in London though, innit?"

She stared at him.

"I'm not in London?"

"About two-three hours away from it, actually."

"Ah."

She felt numb.

"We could escort you there, if you wan'?"

She collected herself.

"Sure. I won't be able to pay you before we reach a place where I can change my money. Also, I would love to brush up, if there's any place near by where I could do that."

"'Course, miss."

**

The shower had felt good. She'd cleaned up a bit on a toilet on the way here, but having the water running all over her body had felt like she was cleansing away the memories of _him, _which she desperately needed. She jumped into a shoulder less, long-sleeved, purple shirt along with some green ¾ pants, before taking a glance into the mirror. She'd bought a purple hair dye in a supermarket on the way, and her new cut, earlobe long, now dark purple hair fell around her almond shaped, golden face, out of which her brown eyes looked, wearing a pained expression. God, did they have to look sad even when she felt _good?_

It would change with time, at least that was what she hoped. It _should _change, now that she was away from the pack and the leeches, and oh- but no, she couldn't think of him. His face popped up in her mind's eye anyway. Jacob. His long, black hair, his deep, black eyes, the happy smile which lightened up her heart, the taste of his lips on hers- But no. He hadn't loved her, not _truly. _He'd chosen Renesmee over her without a moment's hesitation, after all.

She sighed. If she didn't stop thinking about them _now, _she never would. Oh well. And anyway, what had she said? That she would be fine. Fine-o-rama, and nothing was gonna change that, thank you very much. Fine-o-rama, I assure you, and _nothing _was going to change that. No matter what happened, she would, in all manners of the word, be fine. At least, that was what she hoped.

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**The chapter's a little boring, I know, but Leah had to get away from the bench somehow. XD. Hope you guys liked it anyway, and PLEASE review! **


	5. Chapter 5 Titles

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Sorry that it took me AGES to update, I was busy, and I couldn't go on the computer a lot...Well, anyway, here you go. Thanks for all the reviews!

And of course, no surprise, none of these characters belong to me. Well, except for the one's I invented, of course, but, you know, all credits go to Stephenie Meyer.

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**Leah**

**-Titles**

**_"I'd like to think I wouldn't die for you, but you know I would  
'Cause that's the fool I am  
And that's the rule you bend  
Absent in the end  
My fairweather friend"  
-My Fairweather Friend, Emilie Autumn_**

Leah had been in London for a week now, and she had a problem. The problem was entitled: "I'm gonna die." Of course, one always had to remember to be optimistic. Therefore, the problem could also be entitled: "I'll end up in the lunatic asylum, I'll end up in jail, I'll end up betraying the whole pack…" And blah de blah de blah, you get the gist of things.

Basically, what had happened was that, after she had been dropped off at the hotel and had had her shower, the police cops had popped up again, this time explaining that they were oh-so- sorry for the inconvenience, but it seemed that they were going to have to bring her to court, as an explanation for the amazing speed she had run at was required, especially if one considered the dangers it might have caused, and on and on and on. And now she had three days to think of a reasonable reason of why she had been running ten times the speed of the human record. See the problem?

In the meantime, of course, the news was hitting the world, from CNN and BBC to the Daily Newspaper in Singapore. "The girl who could run faster than light", she'd been called. Right. Quil, the idiot, had tried racing against light once, but even in his wolf form he couldn't, not even close.

Leah closed her eyes, sighing deeply and starting to collect her dirty laundry, but she couldn't ignore that little ache in her heart, the ache which was growing with every day that passed. The ache was entitled "home-sick", and included in it were many names, like "Seth", and "Jacob", and "Sam". Well, thinking about it certainly wasn't going to help.

She collected her clothes, left the room and started jogging (this time keeping with the human pace) down the stairs, towards the washing machines. She reached the room entitled, "Happy Washing!", which was absolutely ridiculous, because they were in a hotel, for goodness sakes, and _no one _was happy when they had to pay all of this just to get their clothes washed. And now, of course, the door wouldn't open. Leah took a couple of steps back, and then crashed the door open with her full weight. Therefore, she entered the "Happy Washing" room cursing, flinging open the door, and losing all of her clothes.

Thank God there was only one person in the room, who was looking at her with amusement.

"Need any help with that?" She had a slightly low, husky voice, but she was grinning at her like nobody's business. More than that, though, she was absolutely beautiful. A golden skinned, oval face beamed at her from beneath long, wavy black hair. The hair had stripes of blue, green, red, and orange in it. Sparkling eyes which were a mixture of green, blue, brown, and yellow, looked out beneath finely arched, thick brows and long, black lashes, a fine, turned little nose, and pale red lips which were set in a huge, cheeky grin, revealing her straight, white teeth and emphasising her rosy cheeks.

"No, I'm fine."

"Okay."

The girl stayed where she was, head cocked to the side, studying Leah.

"Would you mind?" An angry tone had hit Leah's voice, but, hey, what was the girl doing staring at her like that, anyway?

The girl held up her hands, still grinning like nobody's business.

"Sorry, sorry, no offense meant. See, I'm bored to death, 'cause no one's _anywhere, _which is _really _annoying, 'cause they're all _somewhere _else, and so I was sitting here watching my clothes turn in the washing machine, and I ask you, what's so interesting 'bout that? Plus, I kind of recognized you from the TV, so I was trying to see whether you looked happier today, and-"

"So," Leah sneered, "what's your verdict, you little hypocritical little-"

"Little hypocritical little?"

"Whatever!"

"Yeah, you kind of do look happier, but kind of not, and… Hey! Are you new here? 'Cause if you're just a stranger, I can keep talking to you like this, but if you're not, then I have to like… contain myself, ya know?" Leah noticed she had stopped talking with a British accent, and had, in fact, taken on the same one as _Leah. _

"Why the hell are you talking like me, _new hotel mate_?" So much for the new Leah, who had, at the moment, been replaced by an angry, sneering one. But, honestly, put a goddamn _angel _next to this girl and she'd lose control.

"Sorry, it's a habit of mine. I grew up in international schools in non-English speaking countries, so I've been through all sorts of accents in my life, and they change depending on who I'm talking to. Anyway, I'm Sierra, nice to meet you!"

She reached out her hand, and Leah blinked a couple of times, moving into a new state. This state was entitled "shock".

"W-wait. _You're _the singer?"

Because, all of a sudden, Leah recognized the face, the voice, and the animated character. This was none other than her favourite singer, Sierra Brown.

"May-be?" Sierra replied with that cheeky, young grin.

"O-one sec. How old are you?"

"19."

"You look _waaay _younger. Older too, though…"

"Righty-ho, then." A little dazzling smile. "You're Leah Clearwater, right?"

"Oh. Read about me in the newspapers, then, did you?"

"BBC."

"Oh yes, my little life of hell."

"You know, you could just say you were on Deroids?"

"Deroids? What the hell are Deroids?"

Sierra shrugged.

"They're drugs. Make you go faster. You could say you took an overdose or something, you know?"

"Do you have a history with drugs?"

"Nope, I just paid attention during my lessons. So, you know, obviously you didn't take Deroids, but if you tell them that's what you took, you'll get off with a fine. And you'll probably make them illegal from now on, but, hey, there you go!" She gave a happy little grin.

"You're crazy, absolutely bonkers."

A happy shrug and a charming smile.

"So they say! But what can you do about it; I ask you, what can you do?"

Leah stared at her.

"Is it just me, or are you extremely bored?"

Sierra gave a little, dismissing wave of her hand.

"Oh, I'm terribly bored. And I'm happy! Really happy! Because there's only like two interesting people living on this floor, and now you've moved here, and you seem like a pretty interesting person, you know?"

"_No, _I _don't _know!" The sentence came out as an angry outburst, a shout, as well as a menacing sneer.

To her surprise, Sierra didn't add another cocky line or a grin, but starting shuffling her feet and looking down at them, ashamed. Then she gave a little sigh and looked Leah straight into the eyes, and for the first time, Leah noticed some pain hidden in them, and the little, apologetic smile Sierra was giving.

"Look, I'm sorry 'bout that. I was just being stupid, and obnoxious, and annoying, and, um…" Her phone rang, but she ignored it and continued searching for words to describe her mistakes. "And, I um… I'm really sorry, I, uh… well…"

Good God. If she'd known _this _would be her apology, she would have sent her a charming smile and given her a million dollars. Not, of course, that she had them. And not, of course, that Sierra seemed to need them.

"Just pick up your phone."

"Right."

Sierra did, and while someone on the other end babbled on about something or other, her face turned into one of horror.

"Oh god. Oh god, oh god, I'll be right there." She hung up, gave Leah a curt little nod, and sprinted out of the "Happy Washing" wearing a look betraying that she was _absolutely _not happy, and with a speed betraying that she could easily race in the Olympics.

Leah shook her head, turning to her washing machine. But she couldn't ignore the weird feeling running through her veins, the feeling entitled "Worry."

* * *

Right, I know this is a boring chapter, but I had to introduce Sierra. Hope it wasn't too bad! Please review :D


	6. Chapter 6 Choices

Sorry it took so long for me too update- I was really busy.

Anyway, the following chapter is probably gonna be very unrealistic and not very interesting, but I had to fit it in somehow.

And of course, I still don't own anything XD

Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

**Leah and Jacob**

**-Choices**

_  
"**Do you know what's worth fighting for?  
When it's not worth dying for?  
Does it take your breath away and you feel yourself suffocating?  
Does the pain weigh out the pride?  
And you look for a place to hide?  
Did someone break your heart inside,you're in ruins"**_

**_-21 Guns, Greenday_  
**

The couch wasn't big enough to lie down on, his knees hung over the edge. Infact, the couch was almost the size of a chair. A very uncomfortable chair. Yay small couches.

It was hot in the room, even though the window was open and the air conditioning was turned on, and as his stomach made a strangle little (or not so little) rumbling sound, Jacob regretted not having gone down with the other guys to get something to eat, but he _hated _that restaurant. Actually, he hated the whole hotel. Whose idea had it even been to go to _Russia? _Oh yeah, his. Well, anything to get them off the track. He'd ruined Leah's life enough, and now it was his job to make sure that the pack wasn't gonna come and make it even worse, especially if it was going well for her.

Jacob sighed and reached for the remote, turning on the TV. He flicked through the channels, except nothing good was on. But wait a second, was that _Leah _he had just seen there? He flicked back to the channel, sitting upright. Yes, _definetly _Leah. Dressed in a suit. In a court room. Facing a judge, and her favourite singer, Sierra Brown, behind her. What the devil was going on?

The judge was talking, and he turned the volume up. "... accused and seen running at ten times the normal speed. Accuser, Neil Ford, please take word?"

An elderly man who looked remarkably like a pig stood up, clearing his throat.

"Yes, uhm, well, uhm... As many, uhm, p-p-people, uhm, saw, and, eh, this was also d-d-documented on, ehm, TV and, ehm," Someone next to him nudged him and pig straightened up.

"As I was saying, ehm, I don't see any reason, ehm, for why a _human girl _should, uh.... should be able to run at _that _speed."

Silence filled the court room, everyone staring and waiting for Dr. Pig to continue, who akwardly stood scratching his bum and licking his lips.

The judge coughed.

"And therefore she is accused for...?"

Pig still didn't seem to have realized that everyone was staring at him, and Jacob noticed that Leah looked pretty close to jumping out of that suit and choking the damn guy.

The Nudger From Before decided to fulfill his life's work and nudged the damned guy again, and Neil Ford looked up and gave a surprised grunt.

"Oh, um, she's accused for, uh, well, running at that speed. She must be either inhuman or, well...,"

Ah. And here we present to you the crazy elderly person, children. Please do not touch! All right, if you'll follow me, I'll show you the man who claimed he was a werewolf...

Eyebrows raised, and Leah snorted. The judge scratched her head.

"So you accuse her of being, what, an alien?"

"Of course _not!_" Pig gave an exasperated sigh.

The judge raised her eyebrows and turned to Leah.

"Leah Clearwater, accused for running at around ten times the normal regular speed. What defence do you have?"

Leah's lawyer stepped forward. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun, and she gave a little cough.

"Ms. Clearwater admits to having had an overdose of Deroids, and-"

"Would you care to inform us what exactly Deroids is?"

"Deroids is a drug which is similair to steroids, and has just come to England It increases the speed, but is only meant to be had in certain, small doses. Ms. Clearwater accidentally took an overdose, and this was the reason she was stressed and was unable to control her speed."

A conversation started between the judge and some other people who Jacob had no idea who were, but he had stopped listening anyway. His thoughts were racing. Obviously, something must have scared Leah, but it would have taken a lot to get her out of her compusure. More than that, though, Leah was in England. Of course. And she was in trouble. How the hell would she get out of this one?

He blinked, shook his head, focusing back on the TV, where they had finally reached a conclusion.

The judge turned to face Leah.

"As of today, Leah Clearwater will be paying a fine of 500 pounds, and Deroids are _officially banned _from England. Anyone seen with Deroids from tomorrow will be accused of smuggling and illegally retrieving Deroids. Are there any issues with this?"

Pig opened his mouth but the judge ignored him, slamming down her hammer.

"Case closed."

Jacob figured that it hadn't gone too bad for Leah, only having to pay 500 pounds. Except that he figured 500 pounds probably was_ quiiiiiiiiiite_ a bit of money. The door crashed open and the pack entered, frowning and discussing where Leah could be.

"Yo Jake, you got any idea of where she could be?" Seth turned to him, and Jacob shook his head.

"Sorry man, I'm blank."

"You did it!" Leah recieved an enthusiastic hug and a bright smile from Sierra, but she wasn't feeling too great. She knew she'd come off lucky, but the news had been all over the world- what if the pack had seen it?

"Wassup?" Sierra was cocking her head, worried about Leah.

"Nothing. Nothing, I'm fine."

"Are you worried that them people you ran away from are gonna see it?"

Leah whirled around to face Sierra fully.

"A-_what?"_

Sierra sent her a little smile and raised eyebrows.

"Well, you know, the people you ran away from? Seth, Jacob, your mum, Sam, Jardy or something round those lines...?"

"Do I talk _in my sleep_?!"

"Maybe."

"You can not tell _anyone, _do you hear me? _Anyone!_"

Sierra raised her hands, shrugging.

"Man, you can trust me. My mouth is sealed as sealed, I ain't gonna tell no one. I swear. If I do, I give you every right to kill me or whatever you want to do."

Leah stared her down for a while but Sierra kept her gaze, and at last Leah's own gaze softened.

"Thanks for fixing this up for me." she said softly.

Sierra laughed.

"You're welcome."

* * *

I have no idea how things are set up in a court room, so this is probably terribly unrealistic. I also have no idea whether something like Deroids really exists. I really hope it doesn't suck too much XD. Please review! x3


	7. Chapter 7 Revelation

**First of all, I'm sorry I haven't written for so long. I had a little writers block, and then I broke my finger XD. Anyway, here's the chapter. Personally, I don't like it, but I hope you do! :D **

* * *

**Leah**

**- Revelation**

**_"Don't try to fix me I'm not broken  
Hello  
I'm the lie  
Living for you so you can hide  
Don't cry"_**

**_-Evanescence, Hello_  
**

"Da da dum dum dum, da da da…" Sierra's voice rang through the open window, a soft melody of snowbells.

"Sierra?" Leah stared at the job application form lying in front of her, trying to sort out what the heck any of the things written on it meant.

"Ya? Oh, is my singing bothering you?" Leah found it amusing how different Sierra's talking voice was to her singing one, deep and chirpy.

"No no, but uh… could you help me?"

"Sure!"

She swung in through the window, sending Leah a huge grin.

"So, wassup?"

Leah sighed, pointing at the job application form.

"Can't make head or tail of it."

Sierra laughed, plunging down next to Leah.

"What you applying for?"

"Well, that's part of the problem… I'm not quite sure. I mean, I should probably just work at a café or something, but sometimes I get just a little bit angry, and I ain't sure that they'd wanna be served by me, if you know what I mean…?"

"Right. Well, have you studied anything specific?"

"I couldn't, 'cause of uh… problems."

Sierra nodded, seeming content with this answer, but Leah had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. There they were again, her _problems. Problems _which, even though she trusted Sierra, could not be told about. _Problems _which, for some reason unknown to Leah, Sierra knew about. She had told Leah that she spoke in her sleep, but even if she did, there was no way that Sierra, living in the suite next to her room, had heard her. Leah remembered having read somewhere that Sierra's lying abilities were absolutely horrible.

"So, you've got no idea at all?" Sierra's voice ripped her out of her thoughts.

"No…"

"You know, maybe you could go to university till you know what you really want to be, and have a simple job 'til then?"

"Right…"

"Yo, earth calling Leah, you at home?"

"Huh?"

"You was _gone, _man, _gone._"

"For an author, you know that your English is absolutely horrible, right?" Because, as Leah had discovered, Sierra was not only a singer, but had also published 3 novels.

"Righty-ho, anyway, back to the job?"

"In a sec…but Sierra?" better to get it out now.

"Yup?"

"How did you know about Jake and stuff? And don't tell me none of that sleep talking crap!"

Sierra studied her for a while, mouth moving around.

"Uh… I was told." She finally sighed. Leah stared at her, speechless. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard me- Leah Clearwater, speechless. Yes, now is the right time to applaud, let me tell you. Quite an unexpected twist to the script, don't you think?

"I never told you anything!" She finally managed to exclaim. A little late, admittedly, but it was a response, at least. Never mind that it was the worst response she'd ever given.

"Never said you did."

"W-w-well then, who told you what?" She was spluttering, she realized. She couldn't remember the last time that had happened. Well, today certainly could go into the guiness world record's book for 'Things never done before today'.

"Um, well, see this guy called. Said his name was Jacob. And he asked you whether you trust me, and I was like, I dunno, and then he asked if _I _trust _you, _and I told him that I did, and then-"

"Oh no." Leah groaned, a terrible sense of foreboding creeping up on her.

"Well, he decided to tell me some stuff. He said that you, uh… you weren't really a human, but a, um… well, that you were practically a werewolf. And that so was the rest of your tribe, and you killed vampires, and that's why you're always so physically warm, and that's why you're so strong, and so on… Oh, and uh, that he was telling me because, and I quote "the pack's searching for her, and I'm trying to keep them away, but I can't keep them away forever." Hesitantly, Sierra looked up at Leah's face, which she could tell was burning with rage. Sierra seemed to twitch, and an awkward silence aroused as Leah fought to bite down the words that were about to leash out and sting.

She finally managed to demand a "why didn't you tell me?", upon which Sierra let out a relieved sigh. Leah guessed that Sierra wasn't used to awkward silences.

"I didn't think to tell you, because I thought he was just some crazy idiot. I mean, c'mon, that can't be true-" Sierra stopped talking as her eyes met Leah's, along with the truth.

"It's true, isn't it?"

Leah shrugged.

"What would you do if it was?"

Sierra thought for a couple of moments, then shrugged it off.

"Nothing, I suppose. I mean, it's not like you're someone else. Also, if you are a werewolf, he said you only kill vampires, which I suppose benefits me as a human, doesn't it? Because then, there's less chance of me being eaten up by a vampire-"

"Vampire's don't eat humans, they drain all their blood and leave them to rot." Her voice was bitter, Leah knew. Bitter and cold.

"It's true, isn't it?" Sierra asked softly.

"Yeah."

There was silence for a little while, and then Sierra nodded.

"Cool. So, uh, I don't know, could you show me?"

Leah raised her eyebrows. _This _was Sierra's reaction? She figured she should probably say no. But the desire to phase again was so strong, and anyway, Sierra already knew.

"I'd have to be naked to phase." No point in wasting perfectly good clothes now, was there?

Sierra grinned.

"So every time you had to attack vampires, you undressed?"

Leah laughed, a sound she'd found herself making more and more since she'd moved to London. She started undressing, not ashamed of her body in the least. Well, to tell the truth, Leah thought tha she was pretty hot. Not that Sierra looked at her body, she kept her eyes fixed on Leah's face. Leah breathed in slowly, allowing the change to overcome her- allowing herself to be covered in fur, to be on all fours again. By god, it felt good to be free! She let out a howl, long and good, to show that Leah was good.

Her wolf head turned to Sierra, who was studying her with a wide grin smeared over her face.

"Wow." She said, and Leah jumped out of the window, dashing to the closest forest as fast as she could.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked it :D Also, I need some help here- If Leah were to go to university, what do you guys think she should study? XD**


	8. Chapter 8 Realiying

**Note: Sorry it took a while to write (though, admittedly, not as long as it took for me to write chapter 7), but I'd broken my finger and had a little bit of a computer ban XD**

**Also, I don't think I've gotten Sam's character down right- but I've never paid alot of attention to Sam, and I'm sorry about that. **

**Anywho, all credits go to Stephenie Meyer, and I hope you enjoy the chapter :D XD **

**Oh yeah, also a big thank you for the ideas of what Leah could study :D**

**

* * *

**

**Seth**

**- Realizing**

_**  
"Runaway  
From the river to the street  
And find yourself with your face in the gutter  
You're a stray for the salvation army  
There is no place like home  
When you got no place to go"**_

_**-Viva la Gloria (Little Girl), Greenday**_

Seth was angry. Actually, _angry_ wasn't the word to describe it. Something along the lines of totally, absolutely, raving mad would probably fit the emotion surging through his body a bit better.

It just so happened, that this was the reason that he was doing his best to kill Jacob. Sadly, it wasn't going so well for him. Seth had known that he wouldn't have a chance against Jacob right in the beginning, when they had phased into their wolf shapes in the middle of the Canadian forest. The infuriating part was that Jake was taking it easy on him, and that Jake didn't _want _to hurt him, and that, despite all of this, Jake was easily winning.

_Seth, seriously man, you've gotta calm down! _Jacob told him.

_What you gonna do to make me calm down- _alpha command me? _And then not tell anyone about it, so it's a little secret, just like the secret of you knowing where Leah is and sending us in a "search" all around the world for her?! What the hell is wrong with you?_ Seth replied, adding on a few names.

_There was a reason-_

_Whatever. Do you _really _think I wanna hear it?_

And so Seth continued to attack Jacob until he collapsed to the ground, exhausted and unable to fight anymore. The rest of the pack watched them with silent interest.

_So, Sam, now that Seth's lying on the floor like a beaten puppy, do you want us to attack Jacob, or-? _Embry asked, ignoring Seth's protest at being called a weak puppy.

_No, _was Sam's reply, _no, we'll let Jacob explain. And he better have a good reason. _

_I do. _

The pack turned towards Jacob, cocking their wolf heads and studying him, expectant.

_Leah left- well, partly because of me, but she really left because of all of us. Let's not pretend anything- Leah hated being with us, being one of us. She hated Sam for loving him while he imprinted on Emily, she hated the pack for being what we are and making her that, she hated the Cullens for being vampires and our allies. She hated me 'cause we loved each other but I chose Nessie over her, just like Sam had. By god, she even hated Seth, for being able to move on and accept life and their situation in it when she couldn't. So when she left, I thought we should let her have just the tiny bit of piece that she hasn't had for years. You know when we saw that video on TV this morning, which made you guys realize where she is? The one where she was in court? Now, I don't know if any of you noticed this, but one of the people defending her, Sierra something, she was there as Leah's _friend. _And you know what else? When Leah hadn't been condemned, and she knew all she had to do was pay a fine, the cameras filmed her smiling. _Leah _was _smiling. _What does that tell you?_

There was silence for a while as the pack considered his words.

_So you're not sorry? _Seth's thoughts broke through the silence as he eyed Jacob directly, challengingly.

_I'm not sorry._

_Huh. _

Seth turned to Sam, knowing that Sam never mad rash decisions.

_Whaddya think? _

_Hm…I see what Jake's saying, because, let's face it, it's true. Obviously, Leah's life hasn't gotten worse since she moved to England, or she would have returned. And, who knows, maybe we should give her a little bit more time before we go to England. It would take forever to find her from there, anyway. _

_How much time? _Embry demanded.

Sam directed his answer to Jake, who nodded his consent.

_Two months?_

_Two months. _


	9. Chapter 9 Andrew

**Sorry I haven't written for so long- I don't have any excuse XD Anyway, I hope you guys like it! Thanks for all the great reviews and please keep on reviewing!**

* * *

**Leah**

**- Andrew**

_**"I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems"**_

**-Fireflies, Owl City**

"So, there's someone I want you to meet."

Leah finished pouring out the coffee to her customer, returned the coffee pot to its place in the café, walked behind the counter, and eyed Sierra, who was pouring herself a drink.

"You do realize that you have no legal authority to do that, right?" Leah replied.

Sierra grinned, put a straw into her cp, took a sip and walked over to the customers side of the counter, sitting on one of the 5 chairs placed there.

"Course I've got legal authority. You." She flashed another of her brilliant smiles, then continued. "Anywho, one of my friend's is coming home today, and-"

"Oh, c'mon, Sierra. Please give me just a week in which I don't have to meet another of your friends!" Leah exclaimed, upon which Sierra laughed.

Leah had been living in England for quite a while now, and many things had changed. First of all, Sierra now knew every little detail of Leah's previous life. Leah had learned that Sierra didn't approve of her running away but agreed that Bella sounded horrible, and, surprisingly, also thought that Edward sounded absolutely ridiculous. Leah had also gotten a job at a café (named Rosette's), and was using the money to pay for her university education, where she was studying in the design and create area. She'd also had to move into a slightly cheaper hotel, but it was cosy and comfy, so she didn't mind. Sierra had also started inviting her to any movie, party or other occasion that she was going to with other friends, (which meant many occasions and many friends), and Leah now knew them as well as could be expected. They'd surprised her at first, because they were open and quick to accept her, but close friends anyhow. Leah had felt slightly uncomfortable around them at first, but now she often hung out with them, even without Sierra. Some of them had become _her _friends, too.

"I can't come anyway, 'cause I've got to study, so-"

"Study for your vet job?"

"_No, _Sierra, I do _not _have to study for a vet job that I do _not _have."

Sierra chuckled. For some reason that Leah couldn't quite comprehend, Sierra thought the idea of Leah being a vet was hilarious, and Leah supposed it was because of her being a werewolf. And Sierra _never _tired of the joke, even _after _Leah had explained that her being a vet would literally be impossible, since the animals would be able to scent her "wolfish" smell.

Well, even if Leah hadn't had studying to do today, there wasn't a way she was going to go an meet Sierra's friend. Unless...

"Wait... Is _he _coming today?"

"Who?"

"Well, you're _boyfriend?_"

"Oh, you mean the one who actually _has a name_?"

"Sure sure, is Chris coming?"

"Maybe..." Sierra gave a suggestive waggle of the brows and a grin, which Leah responded.

"'Kay, I'll come over." Chris, who had been dating Sierra for years, was on holiday with his family. With everything Sierra had told her about him, Leah couldn't _wait _to meet him.

"You won't take that back now, will you?"

"Why would I-oh." Leah sighed, realizing her mistake. Meaning Chris wasn't coming over.

"Okay, what's his name?"

"His name's Andrew!" Sierra made an excited little squeal.

"Oh, c'mon Sierra! You told me it was Chris!"

"I most certainly did not."

"You hinted, and that counts as the same thing!"

"Not at all. By hoping it was Chris, you automatically assumed it was, and therefore, you're the only one to blame." Sierra countered with a cheerful smile.

Leah sighed, rolling her eyes. Sierra cast a glance at the clock.

"Anywho, I gotta go to university now. Can you come over to my suite at around 3?"

"Whatever."

Sierra laughed, skipped out of the front door, and waved to Leah, who watched Sierra disseapear in the busy, crowded streets. Once she was well out of sight, Leah allowed herself a little smile.

_Ratatata. _There was a knock on the door, and Sierra jumped up, skipping over to it.

"Ya?"

"It's Leah. It's three. Happy?" was the reply from the other side.

Sierra laughed, unlocking the door.

"No, oh super scary stalker, I do not grant though permission into my suite." She saidas she let Leah in.

"You're weird."

"Hm-hm?"

"Very. Anyway, what time is whatitsface coming here?"

"Andrew? He's coming around 4."

"Aha. Which means that I'm here an hour early so you can torture me with make up and hair?"

"And clothes, yes. Now, make haste, make haste!"

To be honest, Leah didn't understand Sierra. This might have been on account of her making no sense at all. Also, however, Leah found it very confusing that Sierra enjoyed giving other people makeovers, when she hardly bothered with her own appearances. And though Leah always complained about it, she was sure that Sierra knew she secretly enjoyed all the many makeovers Sierra always gave her.

At around ten past four, there was a knock on the door.

"You're late!" Sierra called as she walked over to the door. "Present me with one valid excuse and I shall let you in."

Leah sighed, imagining the annoyance of the other person.

"You know how I'm staying at my mum's place? Well, she found out who put the viruses on her computer, and you know my mum..."

"Ouch." Sierra winced, opened the door, and let Andrew in. He was short and blonde, with brown eyes and a slightly cynic expression.

"Y'ello Andrew!" Sierra exclaimed.

"Hi, oh crazy person." He noticed Leah and sent her a little grin.

"Who're you?"

"Leah."

"_Oooh."_

Leah raised her eyebrows, turning to Sierra, who pretended to whistle as she stared into the distance.

"Anyway," Sierra pronounced, "come on into the living room."

As viewers of this life's story may have noticed, Sierra was about as opposite to Leah as could possibly be. It may surprise some that Leah had become friends with someone like Sierra, and Leah was surprised herself.

She was also surprised to discover, however, that Andrew was funny. In the beginning, Leah had not been able to comprehend that someone as cynical as Andrew could be fiends with Sierra, but she soon started understanding his strange humour. Again, to her surprise, she found him much easier to talk to than Sierra's other friends, and she had thought _they _were easy to talk to. And, he was funny. Which, she realized, she kept telling herself. Along with all the other assets of him that she found good or intriguing.

"I think I've gotta finish this food." Sierra said, stretching and rising from her chair as her phone rang.

"Y'ello? Hiya Chris! I can't talk for long, but-"

Phone in hand, she walked off into the kitchen, still talking.

"Well, we won't be seeing her for a while." Andrew regarded Leah, who grinned.

"Why didn't she just go on holiday with him?" She asked him, curious.

"Since Sierra and Chris had been spending so much time together, Chris' family wanted to spend some time alone with him, and decided to make it last for like, months."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He studied her for a moment, cocking his head to one side. "D'you like gory movies?"

"Huh?"

"Well, do you?"

"Uh... I dunno.... why?"

"Uh,'cause, um, well, I dunno, I, uh..." He fiddled around with his shirt, looking at everything but her.

And Leah realized something.

"Are you trying to ask me out on a date?!"

"A little, yeah."

"Oh."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the first time Leah was asked out on a date since she'd moved to England. It was, in fact, the only time she'd ever considered going on a date with anyone since Jacob. The only problem was, she was at loss for words, and didn't know what to say.

"Um.. I, um... Oh, um, Sierra's calling me, hear it? Uh," she turned towards the kitchen, where she hoped Sierra was. "Yeah, I'll be right there!" she called, hurriedly leaving the room.

Wow, she had absolutely _failed _at making a smooth exit.

"Sierra, you in here?" she whispered as she poked her head into the kitchen, where, thank God, Sierra was standing and cooking while on the phone with Chris.

"Yup, d'you need anything?"

"Um, does advice for a _huge _problem count as well?"

"It does." She turned back to her phone. "Chris, I gotta go. Yeah, love you too, bye!" She hung up, turning to Leah.

"Uh-huh?"

"He asked me out on a _date!_"

"What did you say?"

"I pretended you were calling my name!" Leah yelled, exasperated.

Sierra laughed, which didn't help Leah in the least.

"Okay, well, what's the problem?"

"I don't know if I should say yes or no!"

"Why not?"

"Because- because I'm still in love with Jacob, but, I don't know... Plus, every time I've started a relationship, something goes wrong!"

"Okay, well... Relationships have always gone wrong for Andrew, too. His asking you means he actually likes you. Anyway, I think it's time you got over Jacob, it's not like he's done you any good. Plus, it could be good for you to get into a human relationship, where both of you just have crushes on each other, you know?"

"Yeah..." Leah said softly, and then she grinned. "'Kay, I'll tell him yes."


	10. Chapter 10 Missing

**Again, I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long! Anyway, here's the next chapter, and I hope you like it :D Also, thanks for the great reviews! And please review! xD**

* * *

**Renesmee**

**- Missing **

_**"Another head hangs lowly, **_

_**child is slowly taken. **_

_**The violence caused by many, **_

_**who are we mistaken?"**_

_**- Zombie, The Cranberries**_

Renesmee missed Jacob. She missed him so much, she was close to crying herself to sleep every night. Most of the nights, she did. She'd never thought something would, _could, _hurt this much. It was a gut-wrenching feeling, as though her heart had been torn out of her chest.

Thank god she wasn't the only one. All of the girls who had been imprinted on spent all their time together. The pack had been travelling around the globe for months, searching for Leah. Honestly, Nessie couldn't see why. So, Leah had run away. Let her run, no one would miss her, anyway. She'd tried to convince Jacob to stay home, that he didn't have to go. She remembered it all.

"Jake…" she'd murmured, hugging him from behind and leaning her head against his broad shoulders.

"Don't go, Jake."

"I have to."

"No you don't. You can stay here with me. What does she even matter, anyway?"

He'd flinched, moving away from her and stuffing more clothes into his suitcase. The reaction had scared Nessie. Leah shouldn't have meant _anything _to Jake, and yet it was obvious she did. And that she meant much more than just _anything. _

"Jake, what happened?"

"_Nothing _happened." He'd replied, still not looking at her.

"Jake, _what happened?_"

"_Nothing happened_!" He'd roared, and she'd left it at that.

Looking back, it was obvious that Jake had been in love with Leah. It didn't really matter though, because he wouldn't, _couldn't _ever leave her for someone else, and, anyway, Leah didn't pose a threat to her. She just wished he'd never even fallen for Leah, that was all.

She missed his warmth, constant and always around. She missed the intimate, hot kisses and touches that they'd. God, she missed him so much. But what was there to do against it?

And then, one evening, she thought that she might know. She changed into some black lingerie, putting on a mini skirt and a low-cut, black tank top. She applied some mascara and blush, which, of course, was totally unnecessary, but enhanced her eyes and made her look, she thought, even prettier. She ran a brush through her hair and was studying herself in the mirror when Bella walked in.

"Nessie," the reproach was easy to hear in her mother's voice as she walked in and studied Nessie, "what _are _you wearing?"

Nessie shrugged. "Clothes, mum."

Bella poked her head out of the door.

"Edward, come in here for a second."

Edward walked in.

"Yes, my sweet?"

"Have you seen what Nessie's wearing?"

"Um… Well, she's wearing clothes, I s'pose."

"_Exactly,_ mum!"

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Edward, we can't have our daughter walking around like she's some tramp! No offence of course, Nessie."

Edward looked uncomfortable.

"Uh, honey, she is old enough to make her own choices…"

"She's 7!"

"Well…"

Bella turned towards Nessie.

"Where are you even going?"

"Just to Emily's, mum."

"Oh… Well, then I guess its okay."

"Thanks." Nessie gave them a bright smile, and then ran out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door. Better to get out of the house before they started fighting. They fought constantly now, and Nessie feared what would happen if it continued. After all, Bella had given up her life for him, and her. And now their marriage was breaking, already, after, what, eight years?Nessie sighed, heading towards Emily's house, and then, when she was sure that her parents weren't looking anymore, turned around and started walking towards town.

The sign on the pub read_ Al's. _When Nessie entered, awed- silence filled the room, just the entrance she'd wanted. She smiled at everyone, and she heard some girls start whispering. She looked around the room, searching for anyone who might be decent. Ah, there, in the far corner. A young man, around twenty or so, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She walked over to him.

"Can I take a seat here?"

He nodded silently, studying her awestruck.

As she sat down, the talk slowly started returning in the pub, and she smiled brightly at the young man.

"So, what's your name?"

"Uh…Thomas, and yours?" He had a low voice. Not as low as Jake's, of course, but low enough.

"Louise." She smiled again. No point in him finding out her real name, now, was there?

They talked for a little bit, asking pointless questions- where they were from, what they did as a living, what they were studying, and so on. He kissed her after fifteen minutes of conversation. She kissed him back, pretending he was Jacob. Ah, you see, ladies and gentlemen, Renesmee is kissing a boy who is not, in fact, her boyfriend. Well, well, who'd have expected that from the sweet little girl?

"Come to my place?" He inquired, as he pulled away from her for a short moment.

Renesmee nodded and followed him out of the pub.

* * *

**So, I know it's a bit different, what with it being with Renesmee and all. I also think I might have misspelled her name. Sorry about that XD Hope you liked it anyway :D **


	11. Chapter 11 When Hearts Break

**Finally, I'm updating again. I know it's been a _long _time since I did last. Shame on me. XD. Anywho, here's the next chapter, and I know the paragraphs are set up a bit weird, but I hope you guys all like it. Also, I'm a bit insecure about the way I've set it up- there's a lot of dialogue, and I think the dialogue might not flow so well, so please tell me if that bothers you. xD. So, yeah, please review and critique and enjoy :D **

* * *

**Leah**

**-When Hearts Break**

_"How could this be done_  
_You're such a smiling sweetheart_  
_Oh and your sweet and pretty face_  
_In such an ugly way_  
_Something so beautiful"_

_- The Kooks, Naive_

There are, decidedly, worse ways to be awoken on a Sunday morning after you have been up all night than hearing someone cursing as fluently as a sailor, especially when this is accompanied by sounds of crashing and clanging. But when Leah was put in the described situation, she couldn't think of many. She yawned, opened her eyes, and turned towards the wall from which all of the noise was coming to with a frown. She knocked on the wall. The cursing continued.

Huh, very strange indeed, this behaviour. Especially since the inhabitant on the other side of the wall was no other than Sierra, and in all the time Leah had known her, she had never uttered a single swearword. Also, what on _earth _was all this _noise?_

Leah was too tired and grumpy to be polite.

"Sierra!" She yelled. "Shut up!"

The sound immediately died down, and Sierra came running into her room, looking a mess.

"_Jaysus_, woman, what the hell happened to you?" Leah inquired, sitting up. Sierra looked at Leah, then turned her head and looked into the living room, then looked back at Sierra, then back into the living room, and then stared at Leah for a long time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you a species Leah was new to encounter: the confused human being.

"Uh, Sierra, _helloo? _You thinkin' of joining me here on planet earth any time soon?_"_

Sierra stirred awake, blinked and then shook her head, grinning slightly.

"Sorry about that. I'm just really stressed, and then I saw you, and I was like, what's she doing here?, and then I was like, oh yeah, she stayed the night here, you dimwit, but, uh, now I remember. So, it's all good. It's all good." She nodded to her self, but didn't really seem convinced.

"You planning on telling me what you were so stressed about?"

"Um," Sierra said, running her hand through her hair, "I'd totally forgotten that Chris is coming in like, what-" she checked her watch, "half an hour? And my place and me make it look like there was some volcano eruption in here or somethin'."

Leah laughed, getting out of the bed and stretching out.

"All right, so, here's what we'll do. You go get changed into some pretty clothes, and I'll clean up this place for you. And I'll be out before the half hour's gone, no worries."

Sierra sighed deeply, and then put on a dorky grin that made her look remarkably like Minnie Mouse.

"You are _amazing,_ Leah! A-maz-ing! No one is more amazing than you, I'm telling you, because you are the créme de la créme, my friend, the créme de la créme. Plus, you're an absolute lifesaver. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged Leah, then ran out of the room and into the other bedroom, yelling that she was going to write a song in honour for Leah, and dedicate her next book to her.

Leah grinned as she made the bed and heard Sierra singing something along the lines of "Leah's so amazing, Leah is so cool, when Leah wants something she's gonna get it, boop-boop-boo..." She walked around the room, doing her best to make the already spotless and perfectly clean suite look even more spotless and clean, and then grinned as Sierra entered, looking absolutely marvellous.

"Do I look okay?" Sierra asked worriedly, fixing her hair.

"You look awesome." Leah answered with a grin. "But uh, you've still got some hair sticking out in some random places."

As she was fixing Sierra's hair, the doorbell rang. Sierra threw a worried glance at her watch.

"Is that him? It can't be him, it's ten minutes early, Chris is _never _early. Probably just the postman or something, I dunno, I'll go get the doorbell, right? Right. Okay, my hair looking okay? Oh right, don't matter, 'cause it's just the postman. Or Chris. Maybe it is Chris. Huh." As she was talking, she skipped to the door and opened it. Judging by Sierra's reaction, Leah guessed that whoever was on the other side of the door _wasn't _just the postman.

Chris was tall and dark, his black hair set in cornrows. He was, admittedly, quite handsome, and his brown eyes filled with joy as he saw and hugged Sierra. They held on to each other for a _long _time. Leah found herself surprised at the way they looked at each other, the intimacy they shared. Edward and Bella, look out, I've found some contestants.

After a while, the two separated, and Sierra grinned.

"All righty, come on in. You hungry?"

"Nope, I ate on the flight."

"Cool. So, how was it?"

While Chris and Sierra filled each other in on the times the significant other had missed, they sat down in the couch and completely forgot about Leah, staring into each other's eyes and laughing non stop.

Leah decided that the best thing to do, in this situation, was to sneak out as silently and secretively as she could. Considering she was a werewolf, that shouldn't be too hard.

Except, of course, that Sierra saw her, and jumped out of the couch to get her.

"Oh my god, Chris, I didn't even introduce you to Leah. I'm so sorry about that, Leah."

Chris grinned, nodding at Leah, who smiled back.

"So, what's Leah doing here?"

"Well, see, she stayed the night, and then she helped me clean up, because Leah is superbly fantastic." She sent Leah another grateful smile.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Chris, 'specially since I've heard so much about you, but, uh, I should probably go now, so, uh, bye."

"Bye then. Thanks again for the help!"

"Bye, nice to meet you!"

As Leah was walking down the halls, she heard Chris exclaim that she had forgotten something, and that he would run up and give it to her. Leah checked her pockets. Nope, she hadn't forgotten anything. She slowed her walk down a little, though, and wasn't surprised when she heard him exclaim her name.

"Leah!"

She turned, smiled at him as he came panting.

"Hi."

"Leah, I need to ask you something. And, uh, I, uh, gotta make it quick, 'cause I told Sierra I was just dropping something off that you'd forgotten, except, ya know, you haven't forgotten nothin' or anything, so, uh, um, can I, uh, ask you something?"

Leah was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

"Ask what you wanna ask."

"Uh, okay." His face suddenly turned sober, and lines tightened around his face. Was it just her, or did he look downright angry and sad?

"So, I'm just gonna say it straightout. I'm a jackass. I love Sierra, god, I love her so frickin' much. So, you wanna know why I'm a jackass? I'll tell you why. 'Cause I cheated on Sierra, for goodness sakes. I mean, you do that, you can't be any dumber. Bet you I'm stupider than frickin' Donald Duck or whatever. What the hell do I do? What the hell do I do?" He was pacing around, blabbering all sorts of things which sounded ridiculous, biting his lower lip and balling his hands together in fists.

To be perfectly honest, Leah couldn't tell him what to do. She was speechless. She, an innocent bystander who had been there by coincidence, had to be drawn into the perfect relationship, without any obstacles or hindrances, being ruined by this boy fooling around with some cheap little idiot.

"Huh." Was all she could say. "Huh."

Chris was still pacing around.

"I should tell her, shouldn't I? She'll find out anyway. But she'll find out later, and then I'll be able to be with her for a little while longer, won't I? But that's ridiculous , 'cause then she'll hate me even more. God, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. I deserve that too though, don't I, since I'm going around and cheating on my amazing girlfriend? Okay, I'm telling her. I'm telling her and you're coming along, so that, uh, she'll have some support or whatever. I don't know. Should I tell her? Yeah, yeah, I should, I am." And he was walking back towards the apartment, pulling Leah behind him. She didn't know what to do, how to react, and so she let herself be dragged along.

"Sierra." Chris barged into the apartment, where Sierra was sitting and looking around.

"Oh, hiya. Took you forever. Uh, not to be mean or anything, but, uh, Leah, why you here?" She cocked her head to the side as she studied them, quickly noticing Chris' upset state.

"Chris, you okay?" Concerned, she frowned and walked towards him, but Chris flinched away.

"Sierra I cheated on you." He said it quickly, all in one breath.

Sierra gave a little, non comprehending smile.

"You what whatted? Chris, you're gonna have to talk slower, can't really understand what you're saying..." But Leah could see she did understand. This was the state called denial, when you still could tell yourself it wasn't true.

"I, uh, I cheated on you. On the vacation. You know, in the Bahamas. I cheated on you." His grip around Leah's wrist had tightened, and he was staring at Sierra.

"You cheated on me? Huh. _Huh. _Well, uh...You know what, Leah, I think it would be good if you, um, went home now, maybe. You know, just 'cause this might be a bit more private, and, uh-"

"No, no, of course, of course, I'm on my way out right now. Okay, so, uh, well, bye." And Leah walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Now, sometimes, we are prone to doing the wrong thing. In Leah's case, the wrong thing would have been to stay in the hallway and listen, and the right thing would have been to walk away and call Sierra later, to ask how it went. She stayed and listened.

"Chris, you cheated on me?" the voice was a edgy,uptight. "Why, why, uh, how, and why and what happened?"

A swallow.

"I was at some disco, and I was drunk, and I was missing you, and there was some girl and I was some guy and sometimes things like that happen, but that's not an excuse, there's no excuse, absolutely no excuse, and you can hate me forever and ever and ever and I'd perfectly understand and you can punch me too, or do your karate or whatever on me, and-"

"You cheated on me. Why the hell did you cheat on me, what the _hell is wrong with you_?"

After a while, Leah stopped really listening. She couldn't take it any more. Chris' fervent, honest apologies and self- hate, and Sierra's pain. She knew Sierra well enough to know that Sierra wouldn't cry, not in front of Chris, at least. Crying, for Sierra, was giving in, and there was no way she would give in to Chris. Wouldn't give him that satisfaction. So instead, she yelled and screamed and Leah heard things smashing and breaking and people along the floor came out to look and they stood and stared, just stood and stared and listened to the shouts of the heartbroken people inside room 204.

And when Chris was thrown out, everyone just stood and stared as he walked out of the suite, shoulders hunched, head down, suitcase in right hand, and walked straight towards the stairs, not looking at anyone. And they stood and stared for a while more, just stood and stared at the closed door of room 204. Only when they heard a soft sobbing noise coming from the room did the people turn and go back into their rooms.

But Leah stayed. Stayed and listened to the sound of Sierra's pain.

* * *

**All righty, so I know it sounds like the suite is absolutely gigantic what with how long it takes them to move from one place to another. Just ignore that, please XD. And I hope you enjoyed it. :D. Please review! :D XD**


	12. Chapter 12 Sorrow

**Y'ello everyone :D So, no surprise, I have yet again failed to post this at any reasonable amount of time after the last poster and, yet again, have no valid excuse. *Sigh* Shame on , to the story. I've decided to put this chapter into two parts because, personally, I hate reading long chapters on things like FanFic. So, I hope you enjoy :D**

* * *

**Chris**

**-Sorrow (Part 1)**

_"Give me more lovin then I've ever had._  
_make it all better when i'm feelin sad._  
_tell me that I'm special even when I know I'm not."_

- _Plain White T's, 1234 _

His suitcase was quite heavy. _Too _heavy, in fact. Why on earth had he bothered carrying _all _of these clothes? Wandering aimlessly through London was al the more difficult when you were pulling a suitcase and carrying a bag that, together, weighed just about 500 ton.

Chris stopped in the middle of the road, turned, studied the hotel that, by now, was in the distance. It was only supposed to be temporary, the stay in the hotel. Their apartment was being renovated at the moment, but in two weeks, they were supposed to move in again. He fingered the little box inside his pants pocket. If he hadn't been such a damned idiot, today they would have become fiancées. Well, of course there was a chance that she might have said no- they were young, afterall- but today was their 4 year anniversary, and while away he'd realised quite how much he missed her.

Ah, well. C'est la vie.

Ladies and gentleman, I kindly invite you to attend a lecture upon that, in modern days, goes by the name of 'Sorrow'. When faced with it, some people weep. Some people are filled with a rage so deep they smash, they hit, they shout. Some people go into denial. Some people go into denial, then rage, and then they weep and weep and weep. Which do you suppose was the case of Chris?

Clearly, he was going to have to find a place to stay the night, but at the moment, it was still morning, and he still had time. He continued heading in the same direction, vaguely recogninzing the streets he had to cross and barely remembering to stop at the sight of cars. With his mind at total blank, he was the cause of a many screeching cars, hooting, and abusive yelling.

When, after about an hour, he finally stopped, he found himself standing in the shadow of a giant oak tree. He plunged down, laying himself, eagle spread, upon the wet grass, looking at the branches above him.

This was a nice place. He remembered it, too. Right here, underneath the big oak tree, lying side by side, he and Sierra had decided they would move in together. He cocked his head to the right. If you squinted, the patch of sky in between those branches looked a bit like Sierra. She'd looked absolutely beautiful today, dressed in that thai-dye dress he'd given her last christmas. She'd probably burn that, he'd heard that girls reacted in strange ways when they were angry. Not that he could imagine Sierra reacting that way, to be perfectly honest. He hoped she wouldn't, because really, she'd looked absolutely stunning in that dress. Not that she didn't always look beautiful. Even when they'd first met, he'd noticed her beauty.

He'd been 16, riding on a bus headed to nowhere, really. Well, it was headed somewhere, of course, but he had been unaware of where. He'd jumped onto thee first bus he'd seen, the quickest way to escape. The bus driver had taken one look at him, given a sympathetic smile, and let him take the ride for free.

He'd been looking out of the window, studying the snow covered ground, he'd seen a figure jump up and down at the side of the street, swinging their arms so that the bus driver would notice the person. The bus had screeched to a halt, the doors had opened, and the person had stepped in.

She was young, Chris had figured, around his age, maybe. Despite the biting cold, she was only clad in multicoloured leggings with zigzag patterns, a gray cardigan, a white shirt, a gray beret, and _sneakers. _In about half a metre of snow! She and the chauffeur had joked around a bit as she paid, and then, as the bus had started off, she had walked towards the center of bus wearing a huge grin. Her cheeks had been rosy from the stinging cold, her eyes shining.

She'd walked up to Chris.

"Mind if I take a seat?"

Out of all the empty seats in this bus, she had decided to choose the one right _next to him. _

"Yes!" He'd growled, and she'd cocked her head, wearing a bemused expression.

"Yes, you mind, or yes, I can sit here?"

"_Yes, _I mind, and _no, _you can't sit here!" He'd thundered, but he'd realised she wasn't listening. She'd been frowning, her eyebrows hunched together as she looked at him.

"You're bleeding." She'd informed him matter of factly, ignoring everything he'd just said and sitting down next to him.

"You don't say." He'd responded dryly, edging away from her.

"You got any disinfectant?"

"I'll give you 3 guesses."

"Huh. That, you see, is why you should always, _always _have disinfectant with you-" while she had talked, she'd been rummaging through her little shoulder bag, retrieving a pack of tissues, "and of course, I ain't got any with me. Huh."

She'd pursed her lips, then shrugged, turning towards him.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Huh." She'd replied, because, clearly, he'd been lying. His nose had been bleeding, and he had a deep gash upon his shoulder, which had been bleeding, too.

"Can I?" She'd inquired, and, without waiting for an answer, had started dabbing his shoulder with a tissue while she'd handed him one for his nose.

He winced, and she murmured a sorry.

Grudgingly, he'd had to admit to himself that he didn't really mind. She was quite pretty, he'd thought. Beautiful, even, with her olive skin and multicoloured eyes. Quite beautiful, in fact. _Stunning, _to be perfectly honest.

"Do you still live far from here, 'cause this should really get disinfected and bandaged as quick as possible?"

He'd given an ironic little laugh.

"Me? Close by? Not really, I'd say. Not even _close. _Actually, I'd have to take a bus in the opposite direction."

"Huh." She hadn't enquired as to _why _he'd taken this bus, if he'd lived in the other direction.

"Maybe then," she'd continued, "maybe you should come home to my place, so I can fix that."

He'd snorted.

"Why on earth would I wanna come home to some weird strangers house?"

She hadn't seemed put off by the insult, but had instead given her a wise, slow nod, and inquired what his name was.

"Chris, why?"

She'd given a serious little nod.

"All right. Well. I like walking in the rain in nothing but a bikini whilst carrying a red umbrella, roses, pants which have lots of different patterns, big hair, and my favourite song is probably 'Walking in Memphis'. No it's not, actually, but that's the only song I could think of right then. Hm.. Apparently, I talk a lot in movies, and I don't much enjoy math. Yesterday, I met an incredibly odd fellow called Matthew or something of the like on the middle of the street, and we had a lovely philosophical discussion right there and then, even though I'm afraid he was a bit bonkers. And my birthday's on the 24th of March, and I'm 15 summers old. Oh yeah, and my name's Sierra." She'd sent him a brilliant, cheeky grin.

"Well," he'd responded, grinning, "since I'm one year, 3 months, and 3 days older than you, I suppose there wouldn't be _too _much danger in coming home with you."

So he had. He'd stayed the night at her place, because going back to the man who had beaten him up hadn't _quite _placed number one on his wishlist. They'd talked all night. The next time they'd met, a black eye had been added to his battered body collection, and he'd told her- the first person he'd ever told- about the father who came home late at nights, drunk and angry. She'd helped him through it. When they'd been together for half a year, her first book was published. Being the youngest bestselling authour had made her quite famous, and she was accepted to Cambridge University at the age of 16. He had started attending a football school nearby. While attending the university, her first album was released- not much later, he'd been accepted into England's national football team. They had always been a source of gossip, the stormer and the singer/authour. They'd been quite brilliant at ignoring all the gossip, really.

When they had first bought it, they had absolutely _adored _their apartment. After a while, though, they had started finding some faults, and since they weren't really in need of money, they had decided to get some awesome stuff installed. They'd decided to get the apartment renovated while Chris was spending a couple of 'bonding months' with his dad, who'd recently been released from jail.

He couldn't say he'd enjoyed the months immensely. It had always been difficult between his father and him, even before the abuse had started, and how was he supposed to forgive his father after all those years of pain, all the horror that had come with it, all the scars he had to show for it, all the drugs he'd tried, all the horrible situations he'd gotten himself into?

Sierra had, quite literally, been his savior. She wrinkled her nose at smoking and even drinking some wine for dinner, the chances of her dating a druggie were below zero,

Today was supposed to have been perfect, even if she would have rejected his proposal, because they would have been _together. _

Suddenly, the truth of what had happened hit him. It was as if a big lump was stuck in his throat, and try as he might, it was impossible to swallow, and his mouth tasted salty.

_Oh my god. _He thought, _Oh my god oh my god oh my god, _now _what do I do? _

He turned his head to the other side. A little girl was looking at him, holding her mother's hand.

"Mummy? Why is that man looking so funny?"

Her mother looked at him, quickly started walking away.

"Come along, dear. We don't want to talk to him."

"But mummy, he's crying! Maybe he needs some help?"

Oh. That explained the salty taste. Through his tears, he smiled softly at the little girl skipping hand in hand with her mum.

"Hey mate, you 'kay?"

Chris looked straight up, into the face of a young man wearing a police cap.

"Uh..." Chris sat up properly, tried to dry the tears away. "I'm fine, thank you."

The cop nodded. "Ye better find yerself a place to sleep now, 'kay matey? It's gettin' late."

Chris nodded, got up, took his bags. Looked at the watch he'd gotten from Sierra last birthday. 13 past six, it read. Christ, a long time he'd spent in the park.

"You got a place to sleep, mate?" The cop asked him. Chris nodded.

"Where?"

Chris frowned at the cop. Couldn't he mind his own freakin' business?

He got out his cell phone and started dialling his best friend's number.

"Yo, Chris! How you doin', ma maaaaaan?"

"Good God, Matt, are you drunk?"

"Waaaay, man, what's up with the _mood, _man? You back home, man! How was seeing Sierra again, did she say yes, come on, me man?"

"Um," Chris said softly, "Uh, Matt, I need a place to sleep."

Matt was silent for a second.

"You told her, did ya?"

"Yeah."

Matt was silent for another second.

"I'm sorry, man. I'm real sorry. _Dude, _that's some-"

"I know it is, Matt. Can I sleep in your place tonight?"

"Oh yeah, man. Sure you can, man. 'Course. I'm sorry, man, I'm out at a party, but I can come home, if ya li-"

"_Matt, _for chrissakes, you ain't gotta come home. I'm _fine. _Just, you know, have fun at your party, 'kay?"

"Okay. So, uh, you know where the key is 'n' all, right?" He coughed. "Man, you sure-"

"I'm _fine _Matt. Thanks for the apartment. Bye."

And he hung up, giving the cop a cool little smile and a nod before he started walking.

Matt's place was, as always, a disaster. Chris managed to squish his way through the door, threw his bags towards the pile of clothes, locked the door behind him, and headed straight for the fridge, where, as expected, he found bottles upon bottles of vodka.

_Ah, Matt, _he thought, _my hero. _

He grabbed a bottle of vodka, twisted the lid open, gulped down some. Winced as it burned through is throat. Gulped down some more. A bit more. And a little bit more.

Sunk down on the floor, started rocking backwards and forwards. Gulped down a bit more vodka. He found that now, it was much easier to see the world. Look at those colours, would you? Ah, the beauty of vodka. All of a sudden, the blue was much brighter, the red much deeper, the pain much worse. _Waaa-aaait. _It wasn't meant to be like this, was it? Wasn't alchohol meant to make the pain _go away? _Maybe if he had some more. And some more. Except it didn't seem to be working. He tried to gulp down some more, but the bottle seemed to be empty. He cursed at it, threw it against the wall and watched with interest as it broke into shards. Started laughing as he took another bottle.

Dude. This was weird. This was very weird, something inside him was saying. There wasn't, there couldn't have been- on all fours, he scabbled over to the broken vodka glass, triumphantly looking up when he saw some powder. Ha-ha! That bastard had mixed _drugs _into the _vodka! _D_ude, _what an idiot. Ha-ha. Ha-ha. Well, that explained why everything looked so beautiful. But not why his heart felt like it had been ripped apart. He took another swig of his bottle.

Huh. That wasn't something he said often, that was something Sierra said.

"I love you Sierra!" He shouted out, then realized that was stupid because Sierra was there and he was here and she didn't love him afterall, did she? "Sierra, Sierra, Sierrasierrasierrailoveyou!" He shouted out, and then he frowned, because that didn't sound quite right, did it?

Wow. Woooooooow. What a big shard of glass. _Wooooow. _And check it out, when he loomed forward, it just got bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and, _woooooow, _dude, this was like, _crraaaaazy. _

The bottle was empty again. He frowned. Threw it against the wall. Realized that it gave him some satisfaction, watching the glass flying everywhere. Helped against this knot that was building up inside of him. Grabbed another bottle, just to throw it against the wall. Took a chair and threw it, but it didn't break as easily. Grabbed it and hit it against the wall, again and again and again, and somewhere inside of him, he realised he was screaming and yelling and something was very very wrong, but all he could focus on was this damned chair that wouldn't break and why wouldn't it break and all of a sudden it was broken and he needed something to do, something to break, or else his world would fall apart, it would it would it would, and so he grabbed another chair and kept throwing it against the wall, again and again and again, till he stood with nothing but shards in his hands.

But still, it didn't seem to be enough. What was he to do with all this rage? He found another chair, hammered it against the wall, hammered and hammered and hammered and pretended that chair was him and it had to be destroyed because he did, he really did, and the chair was broken, and he looked for new ones but he couldn't find any which was strange because he'dalways thought Matt had had six chairs and surely, he'd only broken thr-

There was a knock on the door. Chris trudged over to it, opened it, looked into the eyes of an old lady.

"I have been hearing," the lady was saying, "some disturbing noises."

Chris looked at her. Wow. What a big nose.

"Are you listening to me, young man?"

He blinked, but it was hard to focus properly.

"Look what you have done, man!" The lady exclaimed, pointing to the room, and Chris looked, and it hit him like a hammer in the chest, the grief, and he fell to the floor, because now, ladies and gentlemen, now Chris had reached the last stage of sorrow, and he started crying. And then he cried and cried and cried till he could cry no more, and then he had a strange feeling in his throat, and then he made it to the toilet just in time to throw up, and then he fell asleep.

* * *

Okay, so I'm very aware of the fact that the last sentence has failed, but please bear with me. Please review! :D


	13. Chapter 12 Sorrow part 2

So, here comes part 2. Hope it's enjoyable, and thanks for all the great reviews and adds. Also, I had to mention, Calories4eva, your name is brilliant. Well, *cough* yes, enjoy the story, please and thank you.

* * *

**Chris **

**-Sorrow (Part 2)**

**"_Run away, _**

**_from the rivers to the streets, _**

**_and find yourself in the outskirts of the gutter."_**

**_-Gloria (Little Girl), Greenday_**

Chris was awakened by the ringing of a phone. He blinked, lifted his head off the toiletbowl, looked down at himself (this action caused him to cry out in disgust) and staggered up on his feet. Like a madman, he made his way to the ringing phone (which, as luck will have it, was buried beneath a million useless things), pleasantly cursing like a sailor and clutching his aching head.

"Who the hell-" he muttered to himself, "calls someone else at 4 o-"

Finally, he had retrieved his cell phone, and he grumpily held it up to his ear while he sank into the couch.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU JACKASS! YOU-"

Chris frowned as Cassandra cursed at him, letting her have full leash while he looked around the room. Oh, _for chrissakes. _The place was absolutely _trashed_. Matt would _kill _him.

"DO YOU _KNOW _WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO HER? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU-"

Right. Well, she was speaking the truth. But, _god, _what was he going to do with this trashed apartment? Matt would be arriving _today!_

"I KNOW YOU DON'T BELEVE IN GOD, _Mr. CHRIS, _AND NEITHER DO I, BUT YOU ARE GONNA BURN IN HE-"

Why did this girl have to wake him up at friggin' four in uthe morning? Honestly, he was a man who had just been dumped, and now he was woken up by a trashed apartment and a screaming ex-girlfriend bestfriend. And, _ow, _his headache!

He blinked, because all of a sudden there was a silence on the other end of the phone.

Cassandra sighed.

"Here's the thing, though, Chris. I mean, yeah, you've hurt Sierra. A lot. But you're a good lad, really. And you guys were happy together, weren't you?"

"I was gonna ask her to marry me."

There was a bit of a silence.

"Right, Chris, thats what I'm saying. I don't think that you can just, _give up _like that."

"But she had every reason to dump me."

"_Yeah_. But you're just gonna leave like that, without a fight?"

"Well, what am I meant to do?"

"_Whatever it takes, _Chris. Aren't you willing to try?"

He hung up, sat for a second staring into the air, then stood up, grabbed his shoes, and ran outside.

When Chris was young, he had been convinced that there was a god. More so, he had been convinced that god felt just like he felt, and so, when it rained, it was because God was sad, just like him, and when the sun shined, it was because God was happy, just like him. He quickly learned, of course, that it rained whether or not he was sad, and that the sun shone even while he wept. And so he started losing his faith, starting realising that God and he were not one, that it rained because the condensed water filled the sky with heavy, heavy clouds that at one point had to let it all go, and there was rain. And then there was Sierra, who he'd first danced with in the rain. Who he'd first kissed in the rain. Who he'd realized he was in love with as the tears fell and the sky bellowed and light shots exploded and they sat in front of the fire, keeping warm.

So maybe the rain falling on his head, his body, was a good omen. Not that he noticed it, of course. He kept on running, past the shouting people and honking cars, as fast as those legs would carry him, _stepstepstepstepstep, stepstepstepstepstep._Car tires screeched and people cursed and raised their hands in fists and told him to watch out, you nutjob, you're gonna kill us all!, _stepstepstep, stepstepstep. _The neon sign of the Chinese, not far now, _stepstepstepstep. _There you go, up the stairs, rush past the porter that looks at you as though you're crazy. Now, up those stairs, _stepstepstepstep, stepstepstepstep. _Forget to apologize as you bump into a man and he exclaims "Mamma _Miaaaaa_!" as wine goes all over his white shirt. Time is all that matters, and you're running out of it.

_Step step step step. _

Her door was open, which he thought quite strange for a moment, but then decided not to care about. He raced inside the suite, calling out her name.

"Sierra! _Sierra_!"

"Go away!" She yelled back.

Where was she? Not in the suite, not in the bedroom. He slammed open the doors.

"Sierra, where the hell are you?"

"I told you to _leave_!"

"Sierra, listen to me! I'm sorry, but its not as though I have a _relationship _with that girl. Okay, I don't even know her name!"

There was no response.

"Sierra, I love you, goddammit. I love you more than anything in the world. I was gonna ask you to marry me, for chrissakes! And no, I know there ain't no excuse for what I've done, but I need another chance. You know that, Sierra."

Still, there was no response.

"Sierra, goddamit, say something, won't you? We can't just give this up, Sierra! We ca-"

And then he heard it. A scream, bloodcurdling and frightening.

"Chris, Chris, Chris!" Frantic screams, and Chris ran after them.

"Sierra! Goddammit, Sierra, where the hell _are you_!"

She screamed again, and then he heard another voice, a low male mumbling.

"_Chris_!"

"I'm coming, Sierra!"

He slammed open the door of the bathroom, and there she stood, black marks running down her face, red eys, and a horrified expression. Hairy hands were wrapped around her waist, a gun pointed to her head. The man's face that looked over her shoulders was covered by a large orange beard, brown eyes , a short crop of curls, and a self-satisfied smile.

Chris stood still.

Sierra looked at him, bit herlip, and he could see she was close to sobbing.

"Oh my god." Chris said softly.

"Aha. _Boyfriend_. Nice to meet you."

Chris blinked, turned to look at the man who was holding the gun to Sierra's head.

"Let go of her." He hissed.

"Let go of who? Oh!" He chortled. "You mean _her_?" He hit Sierra with the gun on the head, softly. Chris and Sierra winced. "Can't do that, matey. Sorry."

"I _said, _let go of her!" Chris surged forward, but was stopped by a click of the gun.

"Wouldn't do that if I was you, matey." The man said. "I mean, you can if you want to, o'course, man, I believe in liberalism and all that shit, ye know. Only problem is, if you do that, and this is a problem for you, o'course, not for me, I shoot her. Comprende?"

Chris stopped, noticed that Sierra was smiling. The man noticed it too.

"Wha' ye smilin' bout, lass?"

"Nothing." She retorted, biting down her smile.

"Fine. Fine." The man looked at Chris. "If she wants to smile before she dies, thats fine with me, you know. Come 'ere, come 'ere." He waggled his finger at Chris, and slowly Chris walked up to him, frowning and not understanding.

"Guess what?" The man whispered. "I'm gonna kill 'er." Then he started giggling, a high-pitched, unnatural giggle.

Chris looked at Sierra, who raised her eyebrows, smiling a little bit.

"Right." The man said, shooting a hole in the ceiling. "Party time's over, mates."

"Chris. Don't you want to know why I want to kill your dearly beloved? What bout you, Sierra, d'you wanna know? Do you remember me even, Sierra?"

Now the gun was under her chin, held up. Sierra was shaking. Chris couldn't believe that he was put in this situation, powerless.

"Of _course _you don't remember me. Little famous Sierra. I know everything there is to know about you, Sierra. Every little detail. When your mum was born, when your dad was born. I was lookin' forward to telling you all about it. You should see my wall, Sierra." He laughed. "It's filled with pictures of you, everywhere you look. Not the kind you can buy in the bathroom, I took 'em all by meself, ye se. I'm quite a good photographer, if I can mention it. Got quite a few bathroom shots." He started giggling, like a little boy, but then straigthened himself up again. "Thing is, Sierra, I love you. Not anymore, because now I know you're a bitch, but I loved you before. I'd even bought a ring. Remember that day, when you sang in Manchester, 23 of August 2005?"

"That's years ago, man." Chris interrupted softly.

"Did I ask you?" The man swung his gun to point at Chris, then casually swung it back under Sierra's throat.

"Thing is, Sierra, I was looking forward to meetin' ye there. So I went there, and ye sang all amazingly, and then ye had the signing time, remember? I stood in that queue for three hours, lil' Sierra. _Three _hours and fifty-three minutes, to be exact. So finally I get there, and I'm bursting to tell you all about it, and then guess what? Guess what you do? You sign my picture, and then you smile, and then you say that that sounds great but you're really very sorry, you don't have much time. You know what happens then, Sierra? The guards come. You called the guards. I got imprisoned, Sierra."

Sierra blinked.

"Ah, you remember me now, don't you? Three years I spent in that bloody jail, and who's to blame, eh, Sierra? Who's to blame?"

He looked at Chris, then back at Sierra, sneaking close so he could whisper in her ear.

"_You, _Sierra. It's _your _fault."

He grinned at her, grinned at Chris.

"I'm going to shoot her now." He told Chris matter-of-factly. So I'll let you make your last good-byes. From there, though, remember that, Chris. Or I'll shoot so fast that there won't be any good-byes, comprende?"

Chris jumped so that he landed between the man and Sierra, kicked the man so that he went flying into the wall, and pulled Sierra close to him. She started sobbing.

"It's all right, baby." He whispered. "It's all right, it's all right, he can't harm us now. It's all right."

"I was so afraid." She sobbed. "I was so _frickin' _afraid."

"I know, baby. I know, I was afraid too, but he can't harm us now, he's-"

Then, as if from another world, Chris heard a shot. Then he felt it, moving like a small stone on his back, through his back, and then, he realized, it was stuck, which he knew could only be a good thing, except it didn't feel like a good thing. Something wet was spreading all over his back, he fell to his legs, couldn't feel anything. Sierra was sobbing.

"Chris! Oh my god, Chris!" She fell to the ground with him. Chris looked at her. Wow. Beautiful eyes, those, even when they were filled with tears. Wow, _wow, _look at the world, look at those colours, bright and then fading and then bright and then fading and then black and then bright and then black and then fading and wow, what a confusing world.

His back was warm and wet and he couldn't feel his legs.

Oh, Christ, the man was still here.

"Sierra?"

Sierra flinched.

"Oh, _Sierra_?"

Softly, Sierra turned around, her hand still in Chris's.

"What's my name, Sierra?" The man looked at her, blood flowing down his head and a little smile on his face, gun held in right hand.

"Haven't you done enough?" She hissed, tears still flowing. "Haven't you done _enough?"_

"But, Sierra, don't you understand? This little lad has got _nothing _to do with anything, Sierra. _Nothing. _He's just a random guy who was in the way. _You, _Sierra, _you _are a whole different matter."

Sierra clutched Chris's hand tighter, started shaking.

"What's my name, Sierra, what's my name?"

"Get away from her." Chris croaked, "Get away from her, you bastard."

"Oh. Now I'm intimidated, I'll tell you that. You're shot, you shithead, how fuckin' retarded can ye get? You can't even lift your head!"

Chris attempted too, but as the flashing bright lights came and his head felt as though it was gonna explode, he realized he was right.

_Fuck. _

Chris coughed, once, twice, realized there was blood coming out of his mouth and Sierra was sobbing even more.

"Don't leave me, Chris." She was whispering, covering his face with kisses and trying to dry the blood away. "Don't leave me."

He wanted to tell her that he wouldn't leave her, he was right here, he'd be right here forever, he loved her, but when he opened his mouth all that came out was blood.

"Oh god, oh god, Chris, please, fight, fight."

I'm fighting, he wanted to tell her, I'm fighting as hard as I possibly can, but he couldn't, and he couldn't even see her properly, everything was blurry and faded. He tried to smile to Sierra, to show her he was fine, the pain was minimal, well, it was the worst he had ever been through but he would survive, he would, but then he saw him. Standing with a big smile, right behind Sierra, gun raised. Pulling the trigger.

Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no.

There was a _boom _and Sierra fell forward but so did the man, which surprised Chris, but maybe he was just seeing visions, because Sierra's shoulders were still shaking, which surely they couldn't do if she was alive, and the man was being attacked by, could this really be, a _wolf_? Tearing at him and barking and the man was being ripped to shreds and screaming and Sierra was whispering "I love you I love you I love you don't leave me.", and she was shaking and he started noticing that he was shaking, too, and then he heard Sierra turn to the man and talk, which struck him as odd, because surely the wolf couldn't understand?

"Stop, Leah." She was saying. "Stop, Leah, stop, it doesn't help anything!"

But the wolf wouldn't listen, Chris could see, wouldn't listen and kept on tearing, as if to say _why should I?_

"Leah, how the hell do we explain that to the police? Now, goddammit, call 911 instead!"

And then, and _wow, _this was _really _strange, the wolf transformed into a naked woman with the same face as Sierra's friend who's name he'd forgotten, oh yeah, Leah, and she walked to the phone and Sierra was still sobbing and whispering _I love you I love you I love you, _and Chris was thinking _this isn't real. _

And then everything turned black.


	14. Chapter 13 Simple

Y'ello guys :D So, first up, an apology. I didn't recheck the last chapter I posted, and upon rereading it now I realising just how many spell mistakes there were. Which was absolutely horrible of me. Please forgive me XD And thank you for the reviews! :D Hope you enjoy xD

* * *

**Leah **

**- Simple **

**_"It's cruel I know _  
_ At least they tell me so _  
_ Well someone lock me up and throw away the key _  
_ Because I'm not ashamed, oh no _  
_ Oh, willow "_**

**_- Emilie Autumn, Willow  
_**

_Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc. _

At times, ladies and gentlemen, at times silence is so loud you can hear it screaming everywhere inside of you, and the smallest sound, be it the restless tapping of a foot, fingers drumming against the table, the ticking of a clock, is enhanced, multiplied, until it is all that is there, yelling even louder than the silence.

_Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc. _

There was no one in this waiting room, no one but herself and an old grandfather clock, notoriously ticking away.

_Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc. _

What an odd place to put a grandfather clock. Was it some typical English thing, having an ancient clock in your waiting room? Leah looked from side to side. She wasn't even quite sure what she was doing here, whether Sierra would be happy to see her. But there wasn't much else she could do, was there, but sit and wait until they heard something, anything.

_Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc. _

Three days, it had been now. Three days, and he'd been lying in that coma, silent and pale. Sierra wouldn't leave his side, not for a moment, and Leah had had to go and bring Sierra's changing clothes from home.

_Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc._

"Oh, Leah Leah Leah." Leah said softly to herself, throwing her head back, "What the devil are you doing here? There's not going to happen anything today, he doesn't even know you properly, she's got all her best friends waiting in case anything goes wrong..."

But she had _been there. _She had been there, and now she couldn't just walk away, couldn't just forget about it. Couldn't go home until Sierra walked out with a smile and told her that now it was okay, he was back. Or even came out and told her that he'd moving on. Anything. Leah thought, anything must be better than having to wait, uncertain, unknowing.

She sighed. She should go, really, had no place here. _Oh, for heavens sake, Leah, why are you still here? _Wasn't there anything better for her to do?

"Leah?"

Leah looked up. Andrew came walking towards her, holding two cups of steaming coffee.

"Hiya. How you doing?" He put the coffee in her hand, gave her a quick kiss, pulled a chair up across from her.

Leah shrugged, took a little sip from the coffee and burned her lips.

"You can't keep doing this, Leah." Andrew's voice was soft, his look concerned. "This isn't... It's not your _place _to be here, Leah. I know you're doing it because you care, but there's nothing you can do right now. And I know you feel as though you're a big part of it because you came in at the right time and hit the bloke on his head, but fact is, Leah, right now, that's not what they're thinking of. And I'm sorry to say this, but it won't be the first thing they think of when he wakes of either."

"I know." Leah sighed, looked into the cup, brown and murky. "I just can't make myself leave, not yet."

"Figured you'd say that." Andrew grinned a little, gave her a bag. "Brought some of your clothes along, and your toothbrush, and your brush, and whatever the heck this is." With a strange expression in his face he looked at the package of Leah's tampons.

Leah couldn't help but laugh, thanking him softly. He grinned.

"Brought some books along too. For me as well, you know I got bored so quickly." He grinned again, this time reaching into another bag and giving them both a book. He opened his, contentedly put his feet on another chair, and started reading.

Leah was close to tears. It was so simple, this relationship, so wonderful. They were in love, she knew they were, by the butterflies in her stomach, the softly whispered words, the keys to the apartments that they had shared so trustingly, shyly. Without any drama, or secrets, or strange midnight disappearances. Just a normal, simple relationship.

Except it wasn't.

Leah put her book away.

"Andrew, I've got to tell you something."

"All righty."

"No, Andrew, this is serious."

Andrew looked up, saw the soberness on her face, put his book away, sat up properly.

"Okay. I'm listening."

Leah sighed, sent him a small smile.

"I'm, uh... I'm not what you think I am, Andrew."

He blinked.

"What do you mean? Like, false passport or something? Was the drug story real? Was-"

"Andrew, it's nothing like that. I am Leah Clearwater, and I have never taken any drugs."

"Okay. So...?"

Leah took another deep sigh, had to blurt it out.

"I'm not human, Andrew."

"_Riiiiight."_

"Andrew, you can't think I'm crazy. And you can't think I'm someone else just because of, well, what I am."

"Leah, I'm sorry, but what the devil do you mean?"

Leah closed her eyes for a short second. _Goodbye, love._

"I'm a werewolf."

Andrew blinked, put his hand through his ear, looked a bit around.

"Uh, Leah, you sure you're o-"

"I'm not _insane, Andrew_!"

And she could feel it, the fire racing through her bones, the little itch that always came, the ripping of the clothes and the fur that suddenly covered her body.

Andrew stared at her. He took steps back, his eyes wide, his mouth open.

"Oh my god." He whispered softly.

And then he started running.


	15. Chapter 14 Hyacinths and honey

So, here it comes everyone, the final chapter. Thank you for all the great reviews, I swear sometimes you guys have made my day! Hope you enjoy :)

* * *

**Leah **

**-Hyacinths and honey  
**

_**"So the dancer who gets wild to the deep reveling rhythm  
But I am always away for weeks  
that pass slow like mind gets lost  
Feeling envy for the kid who danced in spite of anything  
And we're out in the flowers and feel better"**_

**_- In the Flowers, Animal Collective_  
**

She had expected it. Of _course _she had expected it. So why did it have to hurt so _goddamn much? _Why had she let herself think he was special, think that, just because he was wonderful in every single way, he would accept the fact that she was a_ freak? _

"That's not the way life works. Leah. That's not the way life works." She mumbled to herself as she walked on the streets, hastily making her way home, fighting against the tears, fighting against the pain that was building up inside of her.

How could she have let herself forget that it was her destiny to be unhappy, to be unlucky? How could she have let herself forget that God always rolled the unlucky dice for her, always did everything he could to torture her? _How?_

"Leah."

Leah stopped in her tracks. Oh dear God, that voice. Deep and melodic, with a little growl in it.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she turned around, and there they stood. Tall and dark, muscular, their short hair cropped and their eyes glowing.

And there he was, her little Seth, a huge smile spreading over his face.

"Leah!" He cried it out this time, and he ran towards her, and they hugged, and she held him and held him, and there were tears running down her cheeks, into his warm shoulders, because _oh, _how she'd missed him, her idiotic little brother.

He looked at her for a second, and then his smile fell, and he took a little step away.

"Why'd you leave us, Leah?"

She could hear the disappointment, see it in all of their faces as she looked around. Especially in Jacob's. Those eyes, like two pools in a midsummer night's dream. But somehow, she realized, she had lost her feelings for him. There wasn't the uncertain speeding up of her heart, the funny feeling in her stomach, the colour that ran to her cheeks.

"You know why I left you." But she couldn't help herself, she ran up to them, had to hug them all, hold them all, _God _how she'd missed them.

"I've left her." Jacob whispered softly into her ear as she hugged him. "I've left Nessie."

She blinked, waited for her heart to react. Nothing.

"Leah, you have to come back with us." Sam said, and Seth grinned at her.

"It don't work without you, Leah." That was Quil, his cheeky little grin.

"We miss you." Jacob this time, and for a moment she considered it.

"_Please, _Leah. You can't expect us to leave without you, we've spent all this time _looking _for you."

Leah blinked. What was there left for her here, after all? Sure, going there meant having to go back to imprints and vampires and that, but she'd been through it all before, and surely it couldn't get worse. What was there left for her here, after all? Not much, except the pieces of her heart, lying around.

She looked up with a little smile, and the boys jumped and high – fived each other and she couldn't help but laugh. She was about to walk towards them again when she heard it, a quiet voice with that funny British accent, from behind her.

"Leah?"

She turned around. It was Andrew, flowers in his hands and a bewildered look on his face.

"_Andrew_?"

He turned his head towards the pack.

"Who're they?" His voice was soft.

"The pack. The other werewolves. They came to bring me back to the states. That's my brother, over there." She tilted her head towards Seth, who did some strange dance smile move. Andrew nodded slightly, then swallowed.

"You're not going back with them, though, are you? I mean, aren't they the guys you ran away from in the first place?"

"Why should I stay, _Andrew_? There's nothing for me here!"

"There was a lot for you here half an hour ago."

"Yeah, Andrew, but a couple of actions can change everything."

"Leah, I'm only human. I'm sorry, I was afraid. One moment you were you, and the next you were... a giant wolf! Don't tell me you would have coped much better if I suddenly turned into a great... I don't know, a great Shrek!"

"A great _Shrek_?" Leah couldn't help the grin.

"It was my favourite movie as a kid. I'm sorry about how I reacted, Leah. It was idiotic and stupid and _ignorant _and-"

"Leah, I'm sorry, but who the hell is this?" Jacob's voice cut through it all, and she turned back to the pack, whom she'd forgotten all about. There were angry lines on their faces, their fists clenched. "Who the hell is this and why the hell does he know what you are?"

Leah was silent for a second, and then she turned to Andrew, giving her a little hopeful smile and clutching the roses.

"That's Andrew." She said softly. "He's my boyfriend, and he knows what I am because I love him." And then she turned around, because she didn't want to see their reactions, and took Andrew by the hand as he gave her the flower bouquet, and they started walking.

"Leah!" Seth yelled. "Leah, where the hell are you going?"

"Home!" She yelled back. "Chauncey Avenue nr. 16, room 24. You're all invited. At 5 o'clock, for afternoon tea!"

She heard them guffaw and cry out, and grinned at Andrew, who started laughing.

The flowers were hyacinths that smelled like honey.

She'd always loved hyacinths and honey.

Always.


End file.
